HikeArizona.COM

In the August 17th issue of Time magazine there's an interesting column on Exercise and Weight Loss.

Skipping meals just slows down your metabolism over time. Granted, one or two here and there won't... but make it a habit of spiking your blood sugar like that and it will.

Now I just wanna no longer by a clyde

So for those of us trying to shed a few pounds, what HAS worked for any of you when it comes to losing weight?

eat less than you burn.

This year I've hiked almost THREE times the elevation of any prior year. I weigh maybe three pounds less.

it really is much easier to just not take in the calories than it is to try and burn them off afterwards isn't it? Should you exercise? Youbetcha... but to lose the weight, eat less.

I don't lose much via exercise. I've been the same weight for years, would like to shed a few pounds. I think you have to watch your calories and portions, but without creating that starved feeling.

azbackpackr wrote:watch your... portions

:guilty: :guilty: :guilty:

dysfunction wrote:it really is much easier to just not take in the calories than it is to try and burn them off afterwards isn't it? Should you exercise? Youbetcha... but to lose the weight, eat less.

This is called doing "push aways" before you are to full to stand up...

joe bartels wrote:This year I've hiked almost THREE times the elevation of any prior year. I weigh maybe three pounds less.

Well, I've been a hiking fiend this year compared to prior years. My weight is the same. Fat just moved from my butt to my gut. Nice.

Was made very clear to me early in the year when I had my knee replacement. Not feeling so hot from the pain killing drugs so not eating as much for about 6 weeks. During this time I was worried I'd gain weight as I was not doing ANY hard exercise. Surprised to find I ended up loosing weight during this 6 weeks. No contest....it's eat less.

I must of been absent when this thread came about. My answer to the question is no. I exercise to have fun and relieve stress(my teenage kids)...and as far as eating...I think its more important to eat healthy than to eat less.

If you meet me, most likely you won't think I'm fat. However, I am about 18-20 pounds heavier than I was about 12 years ago. There is a reason I'd like to lose at least 10-15 pounds, and that has to do with lightening the load while backpacking or biking. There is a saying, (which I forget), that has something to do with pounds on your butt being equal or worse than pounds on your back.

Take one activity in particular: hiking out of the Grand Canyon, river to rim, humping a multiday load. I really feel that would be a lot easier for me if I were to lose that 18-20 pounds. Yes, having ultralight gear is also gonna help, but I think losing those pounds will make a huge difference. While it's true you can build muscle to carry all that load (yours and your backpack's) imagine losing 20 pounds of that load, without losing any of the muscle.

I have a very skinny hiking pal, a guy in his 70's, who tells me he notices a real difference in his hiking speed if he gains as little as 5 lbs.

More to the original topic, I have to say that, over the years, many people have assumed that the reason I ride my bike everywhere and do other exercise is to keep my slim figure. But it's not true. I do that stuff because I enjoy it, because I hate not being fit, and because I'm always training for the next bp trip.

Unfortunately, I exercise to be able to carry three gallons of water.

dysfunction wrote: Youbetcha... but to lose the weight, eat less.

This is the most ignorant advice I have ever heard someone give about how to properly lose weight. Now if you would like to lose weight the healthy and proper way, eat more and exercise and if you already exercise then perhaps your routine has become stale and you have reached a plateau...in that case, change up your routine or perhaps up your intesity. Instead of eating 3 normal meals throughout the day, break up your 3 normals meals into 5 or 6 smaller meals through out the day, which in turn will fuel your internal furnace and speed up your metabolism.

In response to Infra:
thx for updating your post, almost thought you were going to leave us hanging

Infra wrote:

dysfunction wrote: Youbetcha... but to lose the weight, eat less.

This is the most ignorant advice I have ever heard someone give about how to properly lose weight. Now if you would like to lose weight the healthy and proper way, eat more. Instead of eating 3 normal meals throughout the day, break up your 3 normals meals into 5 or 6 smaller meals through out the day, which in turn will fuel your internal furnace and speed up your metabolism.

I never said HOW to eat did I? Did I say eat once a day? Nope, you inferred it. Eat less, as in fewer calories per day. Eat more regularly, maintain an even blood sugar level. We could go in to far more detail, but really.. over the Internet, without knowing the person.. their body mass, their activity level or their general health.. that would be pointless, and far more ignorant.

I could give you an example of my diet, although I'm eating about 8 times a day..


eat more? no.. eat more OFTEN. It's a really simple formula, your caloric intake needs to be less than what you burn, period.

I keep hearing about the 5 meals thing. I just am not that organized. I probably DO eat 5 times a day, because there is always food at work (have you ever worked with a whole bunch of LDS women? They cook all the time, and bring it to work! Then they sit there and talk about their weight loss diets that aren't working! When they aren't talking about their diets, they're talking about recipes or canning, or baking, and there are always printouts of recipes on the table... ;) )

And, there is almost always food when I get home because my spouse likes to cook, also.

I am very proud that today I walked past a whole box of fresh donuts at work...didn't eat one! But later there were homemade cookies, which I did eat, and yesterday there were two main dishes, and it wasn't even potluck day, and I sampled those, too. There is just always food sitting there!

dysfunction wrote:

Infra wrote:

dysfunction wrote: Youbetcha... but to lose the weight, eat less.

This is the most ignorant advice I have ever heard someone give about how to properly lose weight. Now if you would like to lose weight the healthy and proper way, eat more. Instead of eating 3 normal meals throughout the day, break up your 3 normals meals into 5 or 6 smaller meals through out the day, which in turn will fuel your internal furnace and speed up your metabolism.

I never said HOW to eat did I? Did I say eat once a day? Nope, you inferred it. Eat less, as in fewer calories per day. Eat more regularly, maintain an even blood sugar level. We could go in to far more detail, but really.. over the Internet, without knowing the person.. their body mass, their activity level or their general health.. that would be pointless, and far more ignorant.

I could give you an example of my diet, although I'm eating about 8 times a day..


eat more? no.. eat more OFTEN. It's a really simple formula, your caloric intake needs to be less than what you burn, period.

My bad...I guess that's what I get for making assumptions. Eat more? Yes...as I changed my eating habits I kept a log and every now and then I would go back and review it. I did notice that although I was eating smaller meals more often through out the day, YES I was actually eating more than compared to when I ate the 3 regular meals a day that most ppl are used to. AND...yes I was losing weight by eating more.

Yep, we agree.. when I was fat, and I was (and by some standards still am.. oh well)... I ate maybe twice a day.. probably about 3500kcal's.. now I eat about 1800kcals in 8 sittings.. and yea, almost always full too. Funny isn't it? Course, I eat a lot less dense calories (cept when backpacking, when I tend to want high fat foods) so salads and fruit instead of candy bars and pepsi's

Sheesh, I can hardly get myself to work on time every day or get the dishes washed. Keep a food log? What can I say, more power to ya. I'd lose the logbook somewhere in the house and find it again next year...

I think I'll go with the portion control, plus less sugar, dessert foods, and butter. I can live with that. And aim for more salads, lower calorie meals, etc.